Overview
Developed a custom PHP automation solution that processes daily faculty and staff changes from an HR system and transforms them into XML for ingestion by Alma.
The Challenge
The HR system publishes daily personnel updates in CSV format, while Alma requires structured XML data for user ingestion. A reliable automated process was needed to transfer these changes between the two systems without manually preparing the data each day.
The Solution
Built a PHP script that reads the daily HR CSV file, processes the faculty and staff changes, and generates an XML file containing only those updates.
A nightly cron job automatically executes the script, preparing the latest changes for Alma to retrieve and ingest.
Technical Implementation
The integration follows a straightforward automated workflow:
- Scheduled execution: A cron job runs the PHP script nightly.
- Data retrieval: The script reads the daily CSV file published by the HR system.
- Data transformation: PHP processes the faculty and staff changes and converts the relevant information into XML.
- XML generation: The script outputs an XML file containing only the daily changes.
- Alma ingestion: Alma retrieves the generated XML file to update its user data.
Outcome
Established a nightly, incremental integration that automatically prepares HR faculty and staff changes for Alma ingestion.
The solution remains actively maintained.